Why conservative ideologies shouldn’t be mistaken with conservatives

Why conservative ideologies shouldn’t be mistaken with conservatives

The next generation of American voters are going to be the youth. Unfortunately, the nation’s youth have had limited interested in politics or voting so far. With Barack Obama, that began to change for the better due to his strong influence amongst the youth and his overall “coolness” factor.

The statistics during the 2016 general election didn’t really make for good reading, with almost half the eligible population not turning up to vote. It was abysmal. The key reason behind this was nonchalance, a lack of interest in fact. This can prove to be a concern.

We often say that the citizens of a country need to be aware of the political environment in a functioning democracy. This is because only when citizens are fully aware and knowledgeable can the government be truly held accountable. If not, the government can simply get away with things.

Furthermore, being aware of the political landscape quashes stereotypes. Such stereotypes, be they about a certain political faction or racial group, are irrelevant in today’s world. One such stereotype is a general lack of trust among the youth in Conservatives.

It is important to realize the conservatives as a whole cannot be stereotyped based on a few people who are currently in power. We understand the resentment and the lack of faith among progressive youth with some of the Trump government’s policies, however it is vital to understand that an entire political group cannot be defined by the actions of a few.

The whole ideology of conservatism is linked to fiscal policies. They are fiscal conservatives, meaning that they believe in the ideology of “minimum government”. They prefer that the government stays away from the normal functioning of an economy, and involves itself only in certain occasions. Hence they typically enforce minimum tax as well as minimum spending.

That ideology of conservatism makes sense and it very much in line with Keynes’ economics, where the free market determines who rises and who falls. Other ideologies of this political group include strong national security, strict intolerance to crimes and substances, and so on. All these, in themselves, are positive ideals.

What we see today is a section of conservatives who seem to deviate slightly from such principles, and thus create a false notion of the group in general to young voters who aren’t aware of the history of conservatism. It is vital that an entire political ideology doesn’t get blemished under such circumstances.

On a final note, we would like to mention that we are neither a proponent nor an opponent of conservatism. We simply want to set the facts straight.